It would be a greatly needed research to see howthe likes of Shariati and Al-e Ahmad were the prophets of retrogression
that took shape among Iranian intellectuals during the last decades of Shah's
regime. For a long time, Shariati was allowed to
present his speeches at hoseiniehershAd
in jAdeh-e ghadeem-e shemiran, which is now called Shariatistreet.

Shariati was a symbol of animosity
with liberal democracy in the years following KhordAd
1342.The youth, who were disappointed
with the last failure of Jebh-e Melli
government of 1339, to establish democratic monarchy in Iran, either went the
Islamist way of Shariati, or followed the leftist path
of cherikhA-ye fadAyiikhAlgh.

Another prophet of retrogression in those years, who highly
influenced the youth was jalAl-e
Al-e Ahmad.His infamous book called
"gharbzadegi", did more damage to the Iranian youth's social
thought, than any other book I can think of.It was in a way like Unabomber's hatred for modernization.

I have written a series of articles fifteen years ago,
entitled Progressiveness in the Present Epoch, where I explained how I see the
formation of the retrogression (vApas-garAii) that
finally took over Iran
as Islamic Revolution.